Watershed Moments of Fatherhood

As most of you know, I'm a father of two great kids. But one thing I'm not is a sentimental person. I've seen the first steps. I've walked to that first day of school. I've taken training wheels off the bikes (which actually ranks higher than the first to moments for me personally). But the one thing I've looked forward to more than any other fatherhood moment happened last weekend.

My daughter, Layla, crossed a very important threshold earlier this year- the 48" mark. Which meant she was finally tall enough to go on an actual thrill-ride roller coaster. I can honestly say that I'd been looking forward to escorting her down the line at an amusement park with as much anticipation as a father looks forward to escorting his daughter down the isle on her wedding day. Since she was born, this was a moment that I envisioned easily eclipsing any milestone to date.

My daughter isn't too much of a thrill seeker by any stretch. Pretty timid on the whole. But she's a daddy's girl and and steps up from time. We were in line for the ride for probably close to 20 minutes and during that time she must have changed her mind 10 times about actually going on the ride. But in the end I got her to go.

This was the end result. (You can skip the first 30 seconds or so since the guy watching the cars told me to put the video camera away.)

It's kind of hard to see, but there's a short glimpse of a smile in there. She was a trooper. We wound up going on every coaster in the park (some twice). Proudest day of daddyhood ever.

Great stuff man, I remember the first roller coaster i went on was in Texas at Six Flags, it was called the Joker and it was ridiculously fast and scary, I remember that I hated it when I was on it but wanted to go on more rides after that, cheers

BelXavier420

8/25/12 12:49:58AM

Oh man that is some funny stuff. It might sound cruel but only a parent can fully appreciate the pure screams of terror emitted by your daughter. Definite gold how she proclaims how much she hate your right before she realizes how much fun she is having. Cute kid and that is awesome you take the time to bond with her.

bojangalz

8/25/12 1:19:18AM

Holy F! I just realized while uploading those videos that my daughter has been "liking" and leaving comments on Justin Bieber videos with my youtube account signed in. Son of a Bitch! I think we're going to have to have a talk in the morning. That would explain some of the crazy video suggestions that I get from time to time.

Ah, kids...

tcunningham

8/25/12 2:17:27AM

i dont know what the story was when you said smile for your picture, maybe something you could buy after the ride,but i would guess that picture would have been awesome. pure terror, but awesome.

prophecy033

8/25/12 2:28:32AM

Posted by bojangalz

Holy F! I just realized while uploading those videos that my daughter has been "liking" and leaving comments on Justin Bieber videos with my youtube account signed in. Son of a Bitch! I think we're going to have to have a talk in the morning. That would explain some of the crazy video suggestions that I get from time to time.

Ah, kids...

Bieber.......NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

bojangalz

8/25/12 2:36:03AM

Posted by tcunningham

i dont know what the story was when you said smile for your picture, maybe something you could buy after the ride,but i would guess that picture would have been awesome. pure terror, but awesome.

Yeah, there's that dark spot where the coaster goes through a tunnel and the flashes of light are from the camera. The photo would have been $20. I figured the free video was good enough. But it's hilarious seeing her try to work a smile through the screams when those flashes are going off.

Budgellism

8/25/12 9:10:37AM

I make the same noises she does when I'm on a roller roaster.

Rides aren't my thing but you clearly were enjoying yourself and you could tell even though she was scared, she enjoyed in the fun with you.

kopower

8/25/12 9:10:38AM

That was great Eric. Loved how she tried to smile for the picture. She try Steel Venom as well?

On a side note, I'm sure it was your daughter that was liking the Bieber videos. Riiiggghhhhtt....... I've always had the itching suspicion you were a closet Bieboholic.

grappler0000

8/25/12 10:50:02AM

1. Her trying to smile for the camera was absolutely great. You can actually pause it at the camera flash. Too funny. You need to print that up and put it on the fridge.

2. Something I bet you never imagined saying to your kids..."look how high we're getting."

bojangalz

8/25/12 11:37:36AM

Posted by kopower

That was great Eric. Loved how she tried to smile for the picture. She try Steel Venom as well?

Pretty sure Steel Venom was a 52" coaster, she didn't make the cut for that ride. We did every other one though. The last time I was at Valley Fair they didn't even have Renegade or Steel Venom... Hell, I didn't even know Renegade existed until we started walking toward the back of the park.

Posted by grappler0000Something I bet you never imagined saying to your kids..."look how high we're getting."

The next day we surprised them with a visit to an indoor rock climbing facility. Some of those videos are equally as priceless. My son was way too light for the auto-belay so we had to hook a tow rope to his harness and pull him down off the wall whenever he was done with a climb.

I work way too damn much, but short little weekend get-aways like that make it all worth while.

Shawn91111

8/25/12 3:25:37PM

My 4 year old just reached 42" so he went on some rides by himself at the State Fair. He looked scared shitless but he wanted to do it again and again

cowcatcher

8/25/12 4:25:49PM

That's so awesome. "I hate you", lmao.

40ouncetofreedom

8/25/12 9:15:13PM

Our town used to have the local carnival here,And of course they always had the terrible carnie rides,Anyways this one ride it wasn't anything special just like lifted you up and spun you around,2 people in the little cart together,Well just so happens that the kid i rode it with blew chunks right next to me on it,Sooooooooooo not learning my lesson i rode it the very next day with another kid i went to school with and he also blows chunks,but as we're walking off the ride he hustles ahead and i seen a giant brown stain in the ass of his shorts,Poor bastard puked and shit himself and had to walk a few hundred yards to find his parents with his shirt covered in puke and poopy pants.Thinking about it brings the smell back to me and here i thought it was just the puke i smelled til he walked away.

Bubbles

8/26/12 9:55:47PM

Posted by bojangalz

Holy F! I just realized while uploading those videos that my daughter has been "liking" and leaving comments on Justin Bieber videos with my youtube account signed in. Son of a Bitch! I think we're going to have to have a talk in the morning. That would explain some of the crazy video suggestions that I get from time to time.